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Carmichael Masterwork Sells for $475,000 During Spring Season
Records Broken & New Traditions Established for Consignor This Season
Old Orchard, a major 1940 painting by Franklin Carmichael was sold for $475,000 during the spring auction season, the highest price paid for the painter’s work in eight years and one of the highest values ever achieved for the painter’s work by an auction firm. The price was just one of the many highlights encountered by Consignor Canadian Fine Art this spring.
The Spring Live Auction of Important Canadian Art, held May 25th, was an evening of new traditions and continued success for Consignor, the auction establishing strong prices for historical, post-war and contemporary works of quality and rarity. The auction was held for the first time at Toronto’s Gardiner Museum, the downtown venue filled to capacity with an electric environment of excitement palpable from the drop of the hammer on the first lot sold. The classy and cozy setting was instantly popular with clients, paddles comfortably waving in the air throughout the night.
Excited bidding participation came through not only in the room, but through spirited telephone and absentee bidding, pushing choice artworks well beyond expectation. Drawing strong reaction from the room was the sale of Three Black Cats, the small oil painting by Nova Scotia folk artist Maud Lewis fetching a record $36,800 (prices posted include applicable Buyer’s Premium), almost double the previous auction record and five times the presale estimate. Appreciation for Atlantic Canadian artists continued with David Blackwood’s Fire Down on the Labrador selling for $48,300, doubling its estimate and marking the second highest price ever achieved for the iconic imagery created by the Newfoundlander printmaker.
Artwork by Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven continued to excited collectors during the spring season, with notable results including: Tom Thomson’s Fallen Timber (Algonquin) selling for $125,000; Edwin Holgate’s Autumn Leaves selling for $75,000; Madawaska, a 20 x 26 inch canvas by A.Y. Jackson fetching $69,000; A.J. Casson’s captivating Old Hotel, Elora selling for $36,800 while Casson’s Byng Inlet fetched $29,900. Works on paper by the Group saw record prices set with Lawren Harris’ Snow-Covered Trees more than doubling its estimate to reach $50,600 and A.Y. Jackson’s Gulf of St. Lawrence selling for $14,950, both auction records for works on paper by the artists.
Further historical highlights displayed a love for portraiture from collectors this season with an enchanting Jean Paul Lemieux portrait fetching $48,300; Randolph Hewton’s Portrait of Thomas Archer Esq. selling for $14,950; and Hal Ross Perrigard’s Vere reaching $10,925, each exceeding their pre-sale estimate.
Post-War and Contemporary Canadian works performed notably during the May 25th live auction with: Ted Harrison’s The Grecian House (Dawson City) selling for $34,500, Sorel Etrog’s “Ferrari red” Sadko fetching $27,600, Paul-Émile Borduas’ Abstract Composition watercolour reaching $21,850 and Rita Letendre’s L’Enchenteur selling for $17,250.
The May live auction was surrounded by Consignor’s March and June Online Auctions, sales which are carefully catered not only to established collectors looking to supplement their existing collections but also to new collectors who continue to hunt for gems to create an assemblage. Feverish online bidding led to collectors across Canada and beyond being awarded notable works of art by A.J. Casson, J.W. Beatty, Manly MacDonald, H.S. Palmer, Alan Collier, Yvonne McKague Housser, Goodridge Roberts, Jack Bush, Alex Colville, Norval Morrisseau, David Urban, Angela Leach, and Kim Dorland, among many others.
We extend our thanks to the consignors, buyers, bidders and clients who helped to ensure another season of success for Consignor Canadian Fine Art. Preparation has already begun for our fall sales, including the Live Auction of Important Canadian Art (to be held on November 23rd at the Gardiner Museum). We are currently accepting consignments for the upcoming sales and our team would be delighted to meet with you in our downtown Toronto gallery or during our national travels this summer. The summer months feature a selling exhibition in the gallery and online, allowing clients the opportunity to consider a variety of work by Canadian artists, available for immediate sale (full listing available here).
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Accessible Art Collecting Through Consignor’s Online Auctions
June Online Auction Open For Bidding Between June 7th and 14th
Consignor’s June Online Auction of Canadian and International Art begins this week with 266 lots forming a second session to follow our May 25th live auction. Our two live auctions each year adhere to the global tradition of showcasing the highest valued works in the months of May and November; this is when we see headlines about the record sales in London and New York of paintings for millions of dollars each. As a result, the reputation of auction houses is often misconstrued, and many people develop a tendency to associate auctions as being far from accessible to the majority of art collectors. However, this is certainly not always the case. Our online sales, such as the current June auction, provide an excellent opportunity to purchase artworks in a variety of styles and price ranges – an ideal platform for starting or building an art collection.
One of the most consistent subjects of artwork we receive on consignment is the Canadian landscape. Our firm offers many picturesque scenes of the country’s wilderness in traditional renderings by historical artists, as well as contemporary depictions of Canada’s terrain. Stunning prints by Edward John Bartram (b. 1938) provide a fresh take on the classic Group of Seven subject of Georgian Bay. Lot 264, entitled Island Cut, Moose Bay is a hand-coloured etching with a dramatic perspective of the shoreline and jewel-toned blue colour palette. Bartram is a living artist based in Toronto, whose work frequently is exhibited and sold in galleries, and at gallery – ie. retail – prices. When his work comes up at auction, estimates reflect the fair market value, which provides the opportunity to own a framed artwork at a highly affordable price. Other contemporary landscape artists whose work trades at the gallery level as well as at auction are David T. Alexander (b. 1947) and John Anderson (b. 1940). The two artists create modern and colourful renditions of the Canadian landscape, often in a large-scale format, such as lot 254, Alexander’s semi-abstract Rocky Mountain Lake and lot 370, Anderson’s Track Down to the Ripe Barley in cheerful shades of green.
A speciality at Consignor is post-war abstract art, a movement in Canadian art that paralleled the aesthetic tendencies of the American Abstract Expressionists and Colour-Field painters of the 1950s and 1960s. We have a selection of six abstract prints by the prolific artist Jack Bush (1909-1977) in our June auction, such as lot 263, Cross Over, with his distinctive vibrant colour palette. Bush was a founding member of Painters Eleven, a Toronto artist group whose objective was to promote abstract painting in Canada. La Plonge #8, lot 244 in our June auction, is a colour lithograph by William Perehudoff (1919-2013), who was another central figure in Canadian abstraction, since the 1960s. A Saskatchewan native, the effect of the flat plains and open skies of the prairies are alluded to in many of his abstract works such as this one. An example of a more recent style of abstract art is lot 249 AR-Wave #37, painted in 2001 by Angela Leach (b. 1966). A contemporary artist based in Toronto, Leach explores the possibilities of Op Art, a style of visual art that uses optical illusions, giving the viewer the impression of movement and vibrating patterns. Consignor frequently offers many abstract works of art, dating from the 1950s to today, that serve as perfect examples of artwork that can be effortlessly incorporated to homes with modern decor.
We also offer other popular subjects including still lifes, portraits, and street scenes. Lot 226, Chestnut Street by Albert Franck (1899-1973) presents a charming view of the quintessential residential streets in downtown Toronto. Our online auctions include art in a variety of media, such as oil paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photography and posters. Purchasing prints at auction are an excellent and accessible way to collect the work of very well-known Canadian artists. Lot 253, a serigraph entitled Prize Cow by Alexander Colville (1920-2013), provides the opportunity to own an image of the painter’s distinct realist style, as his prints are more readily-available and affordable when compared to his oil paintings.Consignor’s online auctions offer an optimal venue for the emerging collector. Our sales provide a vast and ever-changing selection of artwork that fits your price range, personal taste and home decor. The quality and value of artworks offered at auction can be far superior to something of the same price at a commercial gallery or retail store. The concept of collecting art does not have to be intimidating and it is much more accessible than you think!
Edward Bartram, Island Cut, Moose Bay 
David Alexander, Rocky Mountain Lake 
John Anderson, Track Down to the Ripe Barley 
Jack Bush, Cross Over 
William Perehudoff, La Plonge #8 
Angela Leach, AR-Wave #37 
Albert Franck, Chestnut Street 
Alex Colville, Prize Cow
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Franklin Carmichael Masterpiece Featured in Spring Live Auction
(Toronto – May 2, 2017) Two celebrated artworks by Group of Seven painter Franklin Carmichael are the centerpiece to Consignor Canadian Fine Art’s upcoming Spring Live Auction of Important Canadian Art taking place May 25th at the Gardiner Museum, Toronto. A large-scale oil painting, Old Orchard (1940), will make its auction debut having been privately owned by the family of Herbert Laurence Rous, founder of the renown Rous and Mann printing studio where many of the Group of Seven artists began their careers.
The iconic image depicting a neighbour’s orchard, painted from the view of his studio in present-day North York, Ontario, was used as the catalogue cover for Carmichael’s memorial exhibition at the Art Gallery of Toronto (now the AGO) and the Summer 1947 issue of Canadian Art Magazine, following his death. This will be the first time Old Orchard will be on the auction block (estimated between $500,000 – $700,000); however, given its significance, quality and rarity, the artwork is expected to challenge the current record for a Carmichael painting (Frood Lake sold at auction in December, 2002, for $915,000 including buyer’s premium).
As the youngest original member of the Group of Seven, Carmichael is also considered one of Canada’s most renowned watercolourists of the twentieth century. Consignor’s auction also includes a stunning watercolour, The Bay of Islands (1929) estimated at $150,000 – $200,000, a sister version of Carmichael’s Bay of Islands that is part of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s permanent collection.
“Franklin Carmichael’s accomplishments in oil and watercolour are recognized as some of the greatest work produced by the Group of Seven. Both Old Orchard and The Bay of Islands illustrate Carmichael’s mastery of the two media, setting him apart as one of Canada’s preeminent painters,” says Rob Cowley, President of Consignor Canadian Fine Art. “Old Orchard has stood as an example of Carmichael’s best work through its exhibition history over the past 80 years, and we are very excited to be hosting this major work at auction for the first time.”
Consignor’s Spring auction will also offer two important works by Tom Thomson painted in his early career. A modestly-sized oil on canvas, Road Near Leith (1908), estimated between $100,000 to $150,000, was painted at the start of the decade which would see his transformation into one of Canada’s greatest painters; and Fallen Timber (Algonquin) (1912), estimated at $150,000 – $200,000, was painted the first year that Thomson visited Algonquin Park where his most iconic works would be created, and ironically the site of his untimely death in 1917, exactly 100 years ago this July.
“It’s an incredible time for Canadian art as we celebrate our country’s sesquicentennial, alongside unprecedented growth and global attention for painters such as Tom Thomson, Lawren Harris and the Group of Seven and now a feature film about Maud Lewis’s life — combining to reinvigorate the public’s fascination and appreciation for Canadian artists,” says Lydia Abbott, Vice President, Consignor Canadian Fine Art. “The Spring auction features artwork that spans the entire 150 years of Canada’s history and presents a rich narrative of our cultural fabric.”
Other notable Canadian works of art that will be highlighted in Consignor’s live Spring auction include:
- A.Y. Jackson, Madawaska, 20” x 26” oil on canvas (auction estimate $60,000-$80,000)
- David Blackwood, Fire Down on the Labrador, the artist’s most popular print (auction estimate $25,000-$30,000)
- Lawren Harris, Snow-Covered Trees, 1929 gouache (auction estimate $15,000-$18,000)
- Edwin Holgate, Autumn Leaves, 17” x 21” oil on canvas (auction estimate $90,000-120,000)
Live Previews are currently taking place at the Consignor Canadian Fine Art Gallery located at 326 Dundas Street West and viewable at Consignor.ca. Consignor’s Spring Live Auction of Important Canadian Art will take place on Thursday, May 25th, 2017 at the Gardiner Museum located at 111 Queen’s Park, Toronto.
Since its inception in 2013, Consignor’s live and online auctions have included headline-grabbing works such as a rare 100-year-old Tom Thomson portrait (Daydreaming, sold for $172,500), an undiscovered William Kurelek (Ukrainian Proverb, sold for $41,400), and Jack Bush’s Summer Lake broke online auction records in May 2014 for the most expensive painting by a Canadian artist to be sold at an online auction ($310,500). Most recently, Consignor’s inaugural live auction event in May 2016 set the record for the highest-selling Algoma sketch by Lawren Harris, fetching $977,500; tripling the previous auction record.
Consignor Canadian Fine Art is currently accepting consignments for its upcoming auctions, including the June Online Auction of Canadian and International Artwork, with bidding open at consignor.ca from June 7-14, 2017. Consignor offers all-inclusive selling commissions and the lowest buyer’s premium in the industry. Those interested in consignment can arrange a complimentary and confidential consultation by contacting Consignor’s specialists at 1-866-931-8415 or info@cowleyabbott.ca.
